Another year and another update announcement from Google? This one (released on 5th March 2024) may well have put the cat amongst the pigeons. Comprising a core update alongside a spam update, it is the first algorithm update of the year and aims to build on recent changes to help reduce unhelpful content. Google says this release is more significant than previous updates and will take approximately one month to roll out.
Last year’s Helpful Content update was one of the most significant overhauls to search that we’ve seen in recent years. Many sites saw their traffic drop significantly, while others saw improvements to their rankings as they produced quality content, written by real people for real people.
This year, Google plans to increase the emphasis on helpful content by adding regular improvements to its core updates as it seeks to provide useful information and show less content that’s written just for search engines.
So what is contained in the March 2024 update? Read on to find out what Google’s plans are and how they might affect your site.
What updates are Google making this time?
Google’s Director of Product Management, Elizabeth Tucker, has explained that this core update will focus on two areas: improved quality ranking and new and improved spam policies.
In an article titled “New ways we’re tackling spammy, low-quality content on Search” Tucker commented that the updates will aim to “collectively reduce low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%.” (source: Google)
“New ways we’re tackling spammy, low-quality content on Search…”
Google has said that this update is more complex than its usual core updates, and we can therefore expect to see big changes ahead.
Improved quality ranking and helpful content updates
Helpful content updates will now be incorporated into Google’s core updates, rather than being a separate update. These updates will help to reduce unoriginal content and boost the most helpful information in search results.
Google actions to reduce spam results
In addition to focussing on helpful content, Google is also introducing several measures to reduce spam. It has created new spam policies and updated existing ones and will now start to enforce these.
The three areas of focus here are:
- expired domain abuse
- scaled content abuse
- site reputation abuse
Scaled content abuse
Producing content at scale with the aim of boosting search rankings with no value to the user is against Google’s guidelines, and it doesn’t matter whether this content is AI-generated or produced by copywriters. Content that is produced just to get clicks rather than being useful can now expect to be penalised.
Expired domain and site reputation abuse
Spam updates will also penalise expired domains which are used as content factories and authoritative websites that have sections of spam content written solely to target search engines, using their site’s good reputation to rank highly.
The spam updates are expected to be live by the beginning of May 2024 and sites found to be in breach of these spam guidelines will receive a notice through their Google Search Console account.
Google’s core update will affect rankings as well as Google Discover and featured snippets.
When will the update take place?
Google’s core update launched on 5th March 2024, and could take up to a month to be completed. During these updates, you may see fluctuations in your rankings and traffic, and this is expected behaviour.
Google will let us know once the update is complete on their Search Status Dashboard.
How will Google’s core update March 2024 affect your website?
Of course, it’s too soon to say exactly how Google’s latest update will affect your website. However, you can expect to see fluctuations in your rankings as all of the different systems are updated.
It’s thought that Google’s March 2024 Core Algorithm Update will have widespread effects and will be an update on the same scale as previous updates such as Panda and Penguin. Websites that wrongfully suffered in the Helpful Content update in September 2023 may see some recovery.
Webpages that Google finds unhelpful, created for search engines rather than people, or those with a poor user experience will suffer the worst.
However, some Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) professionals are sceptical about the changes. Barry Schwartz, one of the most respected SEO journalists, held a Twitter poll to see whether people think the core update will actually reduce unhelpful content by 40%.
In this poll, 70% of people voted that the update wouldn’t reduce unhelpful content by 40%, and some of the comments expressed concerns that niche sites would suffer or that smaller quality sites may be penalised.
In short, results from the Google Core Update in March will be seen in time.
How to benefit from Google’s core update
First of all, don’t panic if your rankings take a dip once the core update is implemented. Sometimes, rankings fluctuate during these periods of change and things do tend to settle down within a few weeks.
If you don’t see recovery in the weeks following, or you know that you’ve been using spammy tactics when it comes to SEO, then it’s time to take action to overhaul your content strategy and follow Google’s best practices.
Although a Google update is always slightly daunting, especially after all the hard work you’ve done on SEO, it should be seen as a positive move from the search engine giant. After all, it means that content that best answers users’ queries will be prioritised, so if your house is in order, it shouldn’t strike fear into your heart!
Nothing’s changed much when it comes to our advice for improving your rankings on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Google prioritises content which is written to help answer the user’s questions as well as content which adheres to its E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) guidelines.
Google prioritises content which is written to help answer the user’s questions
What does this mean for AI-produced content? With more and more content marketers turning to AI to help produce content for them, it’s essential to remember that there’s no substitute for a human touch.
Although AI content may well save time for some tasks, it can sometimes provide inaccurate text and therefore must be thoroughly fact-checked before publishing. Also, brand tone of voice and writing quirks can be difficult to replicate in machine-based software.
In short, the best advice is to create people-first content that isn’t just written for search engine principles. It’s a standard we follow for all our clients. After all, continuing to generate high-quality, engaging content is genuinely the only way to win with Google.
Continuing to generate high-quality, engaging content is the only way to win with Google
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